The Third Day
by Stahlfan125
Summary: (Rated for language) Angela Chase has never believed in fate. But when a series of coincidences occur to change her life, she rexamines her belief. (COMPLETE)
1. Monday

Well, my first 'My So-Called Life' fic. It's supposed to be a few chapters long, but I'm going to rely on reviews to see whether or not to continue. So, reviews would help.

I'm not really proud of this. I don't know why, but I just think it could be better…but I don't know _how _to make it better.

So, basically, read and review. It would be much appreciated.

Begin

**The Third Day**

**Chapter 1**: Monday

It had been five years since she had last seen Jordan Catalano. She was twenty-three, and he had to be twenty-five, maybe twenty-six. She didn't know. She didn't _want _to know. Thinking about Jordan was painful, at the least. The memories that she had of him were mixed; good and bad. She remembered the time that he spelled her name with two L's and she had a good laugh, but then she remembered the time he had walked down the school hallway holding her hand. Nothing beat that memory in her mind as the _real _Jordan Catalano, though maybe she only thought that way because she _wanted _to remember him as sweet and nice instead of stupid and self-centered.

But still, she liked to think back on Jordan fondly, because she learned a lot from that experience. The lesson: Just because he's hot doesn't mean he's an awesome boyfriend. She had gone out with Brian for some time in junior year, but that relationship hadn't worked out in the end. It turned out that Brian wasn't as good a boyfriend as she thought he would be. The lesson she took away from that one: Just because he's nerdy doesn't mean he's nice. Not that Brian wasn't nice. He was just…different than she thought he would be. She thought he would be kind and sweet and loving…but he was still the same Brian; obsessed with school and not focusing enough on the social aspect of life. She was lucky if he called her once a week, and whenever she went over there, he worked on his homework and told her about science. The nicest thing he ever did for her was offer to tutor her in chemistry.

Rayanne often told her that Jordan was a better boyfriend. Sharon, when she called, would stress that Brian was a real sweetheart, and she should give him another chance despite the fact that they were both so much older, and he was a big time executive and she was a waitress. Angela tended to agree with Rayanne. At least Jordan paid attention to her. (Though, if she really looked at it, she admitted that neither choice was all that good. Jordan was just the lesser of two evils. Besides; he was hot.)

Angela looked at her life as an adventure. Sure, she lived in a shitty apartment, worked in a restaurant across the street, and constantly had a headache due to the loud city noise, but it certainly wasn't a horrible life. It was helped by the fact that Rayanne and Ricky lived in that apartment with her, worked with her, and helped her with her headaches. Rayanne and Ricky were always there for her, and had been ever since graduation. It just seemed, to her, that her life was worth living, though some people in the same situation as her would tend to disagree. She _loved _her life, in fact. She was on her own, living with her two best friends in the whole world, with her work across the street. Angela had always been a lazy person, and her life enabled her to be as lazy as she wanted to.

It was a Monday when her life changed, though it wasn't until Wednesday that she really knew it had changed at all. She had been late for work, and was rushing. Perhaps if she had woken up a few minutes earlier, she wouldn't have run out into the street. Perhaps she would have watched the big black car with its tinted windows drive right by her, and she would have walked safely across the street. But that's not how it happened. This is…

"Angela! Come on!" Rayanne exclaimed, pounding on Angela's bedroom door. Behind her, Ricky was sweeping the floor hurriedly, muttering to himself that they were going to be late _again_. If it wasn't Angela that was late, it was Rayanne. He was the only one who was always on time.

"Go ahead without me!" Angela yelled back. "I'll be over in a few minutes. Just tell Mary that I my mother called and couldn't get away or something."

"All right!" Rayanne exclaimed, grabbing her bag off the counter and pulling Ricky after her. "We'll see you there!"

"All right!" Angela yelled back. Rayanne and Ricky made their way out the door, onto the stairwell, and down out into the street.

Angela, meanwhile, was standing in front of the mirror, playing with her flat, blonde hair nervously. For a few weeks, she and a coworker had been flirting, and Rayanne had hinted that the man might have tickets to some concert for the four of them. She wanted to look her best for him, but her hair didn't want to cooperate.

"Dammit," she muttered, grabbing her purse and opening the door to her bedroom. She looked around, and noticed that Ricky had, once again, forgotten to shut off the water in the kitchen. She sighed and turned it off, giving the apartment a quick check before hurrying out the door, locking it behind her as Rayanne had forgotten to do. As she was walking down the stairs, she noticed that their mailbox was overflowing with mail, and stopped for a few moments before deciding that she could get it later.

"Hey Angela!" exclaimed Mr. Murdoch, a tenant who lived a few doors down. He was getting his mail.

"Hello Mr. Murdoch," Angela said politely. "I'm really sorry. I really can't talk right now. I'm late for work."

"All right," said Mr. Murdoch, waving with a smile. "I'll let you go then. See you later."

"See you, Mr. Murdoch."

Angela looked at her watch as the elderly man made his way inside. She was only a few minutes late, but it felt like hours, and her hair _still _didn't look good. She smoothed it absently and hurried out the door, muttering to herself angrily.

She started across the street, not bothering to look. The sign said 'walk', or so she thought. It was just her luck that that sign was currently broken, and was stuck on 'walk'.

Suddenly, she heard the ominous squeal of tires, and she turned to look to her right with her mouth dropping open in horror. A huge black car was coming right for her. She couldn't move, or scream, and could only watch as it slowly came to a stop mere inches from her.

"What are you doing!" the driver yelled, beeping the horn loudly. Angela felt herself becoming angry.

"The sign said walk, asshole!" she yelled. The driver looked at her, surprised, then turned to someone in the back seat. Angela just ran across the street to where Rayanne and Ricky were waiting, both of them clutching each other with equal expressions of relief.

Now, take this incident from a different perspective. Charles Hanson was driving to his hotel after a long night in the studio. His manager, Josh, was sitting behind him. In the backseat were the other two band members, both listening to music; one writing something on a notepad as he listened.

Suddenly, a girl ran out in front of the car, not looking where she was going. Charles swore and slammed on the break, as Josh yelled for him to look out. They just missed the girl, who stood at them, staring for a few moments in utter shock. Charles slammed his hand on the horn, alerting the other two band members to the incident.

"What are you doing?" Charles yelled. The girl looked at them furiously.

"The sign said walk, asshole!" she yelled. Charles turned to the back seat.

"Can you believe these people?" he asked, but only one of the band members was listening. Mick laughed and shook his head. The other just looked out the side window at the two people waiting on the other side of the road near Chez Angelique. He frowned and narrowed his eyes, as if he was having problems seeing.

"No way," he muttered under his breath. "Charles, pull over!"

Charles looked at him out of the corner of his eye, incredulous.

"Are you serious, Catalano?" he asked. "Look, we were just up all fucking night, man. We're not stopping to eat."

"No!" Jordan exclaimed. "No, I know those people!"

"Right. What did you do last night, because you're fucked up in the head."

"No, I know them, all right, so pull over!"

"Nope, sorry," said Charles, pressing on the gas. The car moved forward. Jordan Catalano only got one glimpse of Angela Chase's angry expression before they had turned a corner and were out of sight.

That was a Monday.

End Chapter 1


	2. Tuesday

Okay, well, I got reviews telling me to continue, so here's Chapter 2! This chapter focuses more on Jordan than Angela, because I'm currently going through a Jared Leto (Jordan) obsession that I don't think is going to fade anytime soon. For all Jordan Catalano fans: See Alexander. He's amazing in that movie, and he looks absolutely beautiful!

Please review! I love reviews!

* * *

**Tuesday**

Jordan couldn't get Angela out of his head. He had often thought about her and wished that he hadn't blown his chances with her in the five years since he'd last seen her, but this was different. That Tuesday morning, he just lay in bed and thought about her. About the time they had spent together, and how he had fucked it up by being such a moron. About her in general, and how she had looked the day before; so beautiful and angelic. Jordan had, since graduation, taken on a knack for stringing words together to make a song, and he had once written a song about Angela and her angelic quality.

It wasn't a great song, really. You wouldn't even know it was about Angela unless you, well, knew that it was about Angela. It would be his band's first single: Crimson Angel. They were the first lyrics that Jordan had written that could actually confuse someone. Jordan wasn't known amongst his friends as being a really deep guy, but Jordan knew that Angela would be shocked to see how much he had changed since high school. But, then, doesn't everybody?

Jordan's band, Chasing Her, was on the verge of hitting it big. They had just finished recording their debut album, which their producer was completely in love with, and their single was being released that day. They had a concert late that night in a bar down the road from the hotel. Then, they had a concert Wednesday night too. Their manager estimated that they would rapidly achieve the fame they had been longing for, and was even starting to go into negotiations for an MTV spot.

But on that Tuesday morning, Jordan suddenly couldn't care any less about his band. His band would be nothing without the inspiration that Angela had unwillingly lent him. He had to find her. He had to see her and talk to her and apologize to her for everything that he did and didn't do. He had been wishing, for five long years, that he could apologize to her and make everything right again, even if she still wanted nothing to do with him. It was the least he could do for her.

So when Jordan got out of bed that morning, he got up with the thought in his head that he would go and try to find Angela. He didn't know how he would go about doing that, but he knew that he needed to.

The phone rang. Jordan groaned, deterred from his mission, and leaned over the bed to answer it.

"Hey! Catalano!" a familiar voice yelled in his ear.

"Charlie, it's early," Jordan said, not even bothering to check the time. "And I've got stuff to do. What is it?"

"Damn right you've got stuff to do. Did you forget that we have to tape 'My kind' over again?"

Jordan sighed and fell back onto his soft feather bed in defeat. He had completely forgotten.

"No," he said. "I didn't forget. What time is it?"

"You mean what time is it now, or what time are we supposed to get there? Oh, wait, it doesn't matter. _They're the same damn time!_."

Jordan groaned and stood up, crossing to his closet in a few short strides and flinging open the door. Throwing out some clothes, her hurriedly started searching his bedroom floor for his shoes.

"Shit, man, sorry," Jordan said with a heavy sigh. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Don't get distracted," Charlie reminded him, and Jordan laughed humorlessly.

"It's me," Jordan said with a falsely wounded air. Charlie laughed.

"Exactly, man," he said, and then his playful tone got more serious. "I'm serious. Don't fuck things up for us, man."

"All lead singers are moody and often late to things, Charlie man. They won't think anything of it."

"You'd better be right," Charlie said threateningly. Then, his voice took a lighter tone. "Our single goes on the air in a few hours. You wanna get together and listen to it." He barely paused before continuing. "I mean, I know it sounds a little gay and shit, but man…it's our _first single_."

"Yeah, sure," Jordan said with a smile. "We can get together. How about at Chez Angelique. They love us there."

"All right," Charlie said. "I'll see you in a few minutes, man. You'd better haul your ass, dude. Hurry the fuck up!"

"All right!" Jordan replied loudly, joking around, of course. "See you."

"Yeah, hopefully," Charlie quipped. Jordan laughed and hung up the phone after promising yet again that he was going to get there. On time. For once.

Why had Jordan chosen Chez Angelique? Well, he thought that that answer would be apparent to anyone. He wanted to see Angela almost desperately. He had seen her crossing the street across from Chez Angelique the day before. Maybe she would be there that day. He wasn't sure, but he hoped to God that it would happen.

* * *

"Yeah, hey Mary. No, none of us is feeling well today. No, I'm not lying. Yes, I'm sure. We'll be in tomorrow, I promise!"

Rayanne sighed and hung up the phone.

"She didn't believe me," she said, adjusting the blanket around her shoulders and plopping back down on the couch between Angela and Ricky, who were cuddled up together with blankets draped all over them as they watched 'Serendipity' and drank Ginger Ale. Rayanne draped her arm over Angela's shoulders on one side, and Ricky's on the other, and settled down to watch the movie.

"Well, it's a little odd that we all got sick on this one day," Angela reasoned.

"Not when the three of us all live in this tiny shoebox apartment," Rayanne pointed out. Ricky and Angela had to agree.

* * *

Just across the street, Jordan sat surrounded by his band mates and the restaurant's patrons, listening as the radio DJ announced the next song.

"And here's the new song from newcomer Chasing Her…" he said. The rest of the sentence was drowned in the cheers that erupted from the patrons.

Jordan was in Heaven. They were all clapping, congratulating him, praising him. They weren't yelling at him, hitting him, telling him he was a fuck up…these people _liked _him. They _cared_¸ even if it wasn't for the right reasons. They still cared more than most people.

The entire restaurant sang, reading off the lyric sheets that Charlie had passed around. "I want to say I love you/But how can I know/Never seeing you/Never touching you/Always feeling you…I need you/ I want you/You don't see me/I can't find you."

The owner of the bar turned up the music until it was so loud, Jordan thought he was going to scream, but he couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. They were surrounding him, loving him, wishing that they could be him. It almost made up for the fact that he hadn't found Angela.

* * *

"Crimson Angel/hair of blood/touch you/love you/want you/need you/make you happy/make you see."

"What the hell?" Rayanne pressed the pause button, and the three friends ran to the window like little children, scampering in bare feet and leaning out as if trying to reach the source of the noise.

"Looks like we picked a bad day to be sick," Rayanne remarked. It wasn't odd for the bar to hold 'single parties' for up-and-coming bands. "Sounds like a good one too."

"I'm so sorry/I'll fix it, I swear/make all your pain/just go away/really loved you/didn't hate you/couldn't tell you/made you think I didn't care/needed help/should have done it on my own."

"Yeah, hey, that's pretty good," Raynne remarked. "The vocalist sounds hot."

"Yeah," Ricky said dreamily. "He does."

"It reminds me of you, Ang," Rayanne said with a laugh. "Crimson Angel. Remember when you had that red hair?"

"It wasn't red. It was crimson glow," Angela said indignantly. Rayanne laughed again.

"Exactly," she exclaimed. "Doesn't it remind you of that?"

Angela sighed and slumped back on the couch, tucking her feet under her.

"Come on," she said. "Just close the window."

Rayanne shot Ricky a look, and the two of them went back to the couch, wrapping themselves back in the blankets.

They both knew that Angela didn't like thinking about Jordan, and they knew that any mention of high school or anything remotely related to high school got her thinking about him. Rayanne often said that she should find him, but Angela refused to even consider it. Ricky said that she didn't really think much of Jordan, but she just missed his kissing. Angela and Rayanne both pretended to believe that, for her sake.

* * *

The party had died down, and Charlie and Mick had left. The restaurant was getting crowded, as it was near dinnertime. Jordan was seated at the bar, hunched over a bottle sullenly. The musical high had long ago worn off, and he was faced with the fact that he had been wrong with his gut feeling, and Angela hadn't shown up.

"I was stupid to think she'd be here anyway," he muttered under his breath. "She was probably just crossing the street near here. She probably doesn't even know where this is."

Still, the fact that he had just _seen _her, after what felt like so many years, was impossible to fathom. He couldn't give up.

Jordan had never believed in fate or destiny, but what he heard next shattered his beliefs and threw them out the window.

"Yeah, Rayanne called in sick today, _and _she called in sick for Ricky and Angela," one waitress was saying to another. "I swear; they live like two feet away! They could at least work for a few hours! Look how busy it is here! God, they'd better be feeling better for tomorrow's shift at two, or I'm going to scream!"

That was Tuesday.


	3. Wednesday

You all are going to be upset with me for this chapter. I'm upset with myself, but after a dream I had last night, this just kind of came to me. Don't hate me! This isn't the last chapter, despite the fact that it's the third day already.

This is a relatively short chapter, but the next one will be longer.

Please review, and, once again, don't hate me!

* * *

**Wednesday**

Angela walked into Chez Angelique at two o'clock in the afternoon exactly, with Rayanne and Ricky close behind her. Mary O'Brien smiled at them as they entered, looking relieved to see them.

"Thank God you're here," she said. "We've had so many people canceling. There must be something going around. I'm just thankful you guys had it last night and not tonight, though you did miss quite the party."

"Yeah, we heard the song from all the way across the street," Rayanne said with a laugh. "Who was that? They were really good."

"Chasing Her or something like that," Mary said with a shrug. "The lead singer was _really _hot. Jared or something. I can't really remember."

"Well, I hope he decides to come back," Rayanne said with a laugh. "And if he does, put me on his table."

Mary laughed and turned around as the door opened, and an elderly couple walked in.

"Ricky, why don't you take them," Mary said, pointing to the couple as if Ricky wouldn't have known who she was talking about otherwise. Ricky moved over to the couple, smiling and putting on his best suck-up face. Rayanne and Angela moved behind the counter with Mary to get their aprons and their pads to write the orders on. Mary chatted aimlessly about all sorts of things that were going on in the news, and the new movies that were coming out.

"That reminds me!" Rayanne exclaimed. "We never finished Serendipity!"

"Oh, come on, as if you didn't know what would happen!" Angela exclaimed. "They're going to get together at the end! It always works like that!"

"Not all the time. Romeo and Juliet, you know that movie with Leonardo DeCaprio and that other girl. Oh man, what's her name again?"

"Well, yeah, that movie, but that was a play first."

"It was?" Rayanne asked. Angela sighed and rolled her eyes.

"We read it freshman year, Rayanne!" she exclaimed. "How could you forget so soon?"

"I don't pay attention to those things," Rayanne said, waving her hand absently. "Wait…is that why they were talking funny throughout that whole movie?"

Angela sighed, but she was laughing, and she and Rayanne hurriedly began rummaging through the aprons for their own.

"Rayanne! I need you behind the bar!" Mary yelled from the front of the restaurant. Rayanne slapped her hand to her forehead in a very comical fashion.

"Shit, I left it at home!" she exclaimed.

"At home? You're not supposed to take it with you?"

"Yeah, well, I forgot," Rayanne said, unable to stifle a giggle. Angela sighed and threw her own apron on, shaking her head at Rayanne, but she couldn't hide a smile.

"All right," she said. "Just take someone else's for now, and I'll go get yours."

"Are you sure?" Rayanne asked, enveloping her best friend in a huge hug.

"Completely positive," Angela replied. Rayanne thanked her again before grabbing a random apron and running out to the front. Angela sighed and followed her. Mary was standing at the cash register near the front of the room, tapping her foot and humming some song. Angela recognized it as that Crimson Angel song.

"Where are you going?" Mary asked her, sounding foolishly confused.

"I'm going across the street to get something," Angela explained. "Don't worry. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Mary nodded and waved her out without asking what it was that she was going to get. Angela sighed with relief and hurried out the door.

* * *

Jordan was walking along, his hands shoved into his coat pockets and his shoulders drawn up against the cold. It was very cold out that morning, though cold is usually what someone would expect in December. Jordan had always hated the cold, and now was no exception.

But he couldn't help the smile on his face. He was going to find Angela. He was going to find her and he was going to see her and meet her and apologize to her. He was _finally _going to get a chance to do what he had been longing to do ever since he had gotten Brian Krakow to write that letter.

He was almost there. He threw open the door and walked inside, barely able to contain his excitement. He saw the owner of the restaurant behind the front counter, and he walked up slowly, blowing on his hands to warm them up.

"Hey," he said, nodding politely. She smiled at him radiantly.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "How'd the concert go?"

"The concert went well," Jordan said politely. "Um…I have a question. Is Angela Chase here?"

Mary's eyes widened, and then narrowed.

"How do you know Angela?" she asked, sounding very confused.

"Is she here?" Jordan asked desperately. Mary still looked suspicious, but she pointed out the door with a shrug.

"You missed her, like, two seconds ago," she said. Jordan thanked her quickly and started towards the door. Behind him, he heard a gasp, and someone yelled out his name, but he didn't stop.

He ran out into the street, not bothering to look to see if anything was coming. Perhaps that's why he didn't see the red convertible making its was around the dangerous corner just as he stepped directly into the middle of the street. The only thing he saw was Angela bending down across the street to pick up the keys, which she had just dropped onto the sidewalk.

The last thing he saw before the world went black was her face, looking up at him as if confused and afraid. He started to yell her name, but he was cut off as suddenly something struck his side hard, and he was propelled through the air a few feet before coming to a stop with a sickening thud on the pavement.


	4. Thursday and Beyond

Here it is: the last chapter! I'm proud of the way this ended, and I hope you are too. Thank you for your support, my lovely reviewers!

* * *

**Chapter 4: **Thursday and Beyond

Jordan woke up on Thursday. He tried to move and hissed as a sharp stabbing pain shot through his body. Assuming that he was alone, he allowed a small whimper to escape him. Suddenly, a warm hand was on his own, and he started with surprise, his eyes flying open.

He was looking at her. _Her. _Angela Chase. The woman who he had been searching forever since he had lost her. She was finally there, in front of him. She was _holding his hand_. At the moment, her eyes were closed, and her head rested against the back of the chair. Jordan wondered how long she had been there. He wondered why she was there at all.

"Angela?"

He managed to whisper her name, though his throat was sore from lack of fluids, and he felt sick to his stomach just breathing. He had to catch her attention. He had to let her know that he was okay.

Her eyes flew open, and she stared at him with shock, her hand tightening on his. Jordan basked in the smile that crossed her face suddenly, and he smiled in return.

"You're awake!" she exclaimed, and Jordan could see that she had been crying. "Oh, Jordan…"

"You stayed," Jordan said happily, also sounding slightly surprised. "Why?"

She looked down, her lower lip quivering and a tear slowly rolling out of the corner of her eye. Jordan squeezed her hand tenderly, still not quite able to realize that he was seeing her, in the flesh and not just in his dreams.

"I couldn't just leave you," she whispered. Jordan sighed.

"Why?" he asked. Angela laughed humorlessly and nodded as if she had been waiting for that question. She waited for a short moment, thinking, before answering.

"Because you're you," she said finally, looking up at him and shrugging sadly. "And I'm me."

Oddly enough, Jordan knew what she meant. He had been an ass to her back in high school, but still she had gone out with him, up until that whole thing with the letter. He had some kind of power over her, and he knew it. Though he would have loved to use it, however, he knew that he had to let Angela make her own decision.

"You didn't have to stay," he murmured.

"Yes I did," Angela replied, laughing slightly under her breath. "I couldn't just leave you, Jordan! God, look at you!"

She gestured to him, and he took the time to see exactly what he looked like. He had to admit; it was pretty bad. His leg was in a cast, and so was his arm, He could feel a rather large bandage on his forehead, and his other arm was covered in angry red scratches.

"Well…you still didn't have to stay," he said with a smile. Angela laughed for real this time and shook her head, unconsciously moving closer to the bed.

"It's so amazing that we met up like this, isn't it?" she asked quietly, with a sigh.

"I've been looking for you, you know. Ever since Monday."

"Monday?" Angela asked, sounding slightly confused.

"Yeah. We almost hit you in front of Chez Angelique."

"Oh my God, that was you?" she asked.

"Well, I was in the back seat," he replied with a shrug. Angela just gaped at him in utter disbelief.

"This is so _weird_!" she exclaimed. "I mean…five years and…wow!"

"I know," Jordan said with a grin. "I feel the same way."

Angela laughed nervously and looked down at the ground, shaking her head silently with amazement.

"I just can't believe it," she said quietly. There was a long, awkward pause. Finally, Jordan decided that he had to break it.

"So where are Rayanne and Ricky?" he asked. Angela flinched slightly, and Jordan couldn't help but remember the whole thing with Rayanne back in high school. He had been so stupid then; so naive. He was glad that Angela found it in her heart to forgive Rayanne. If he were her, he wouldn't have. Of course, he had never been too fond of Rayanne anyway. Maybe it was because she kind of reminded him of himself, and he never really liked himself either.

"They're out in the waiting room," Angela said softly. "Oh yeah, and Mary called your band members. They cancelled the concert."

"Oh shit," Jordan muttered under his breath. "I completely forgot about that!"

"Jordan," Angela said gently with a smile on her face. "You just got hit by a car. I think they'll forgive you."

"You don't know them," Jordan remarked lightly, though inwardly, he really _was _worried that they'd be pissed off at him. After all, this was their big break. How were they supposed to make it big when he was sitting in a hospital room?

"Well, I'd forgive you," Angela said softly, and Jordan made himself look at her, surprise on his face. She was staring up at him through half-lidded eyes, a red flush slowly creeping across her face.

"You would?" he asked softly. "Even if this was a really important concert?"

"Yeah," Angela said, still in that quiet, innocent tone that Jordan was beginning to fall in love with. "But, then, I've usually been able to forgive you for anything, haven't I?"

Jordan laughed sadly. "Except the letter," he said. "And the thing with Rayanne."

Angela laughed and waved her hand dismissively.

"Jordan, please," she said. "That was, what, six years ago? I'm completely over that."

Jordan felt every worry he had ever had just melt away at that simple sentence. Angela forgave him. She didn't hate him.

"I'm sorry about that," he murmured under his breath, looking at her sadly. Angela smiled and leaned her elbows on the bed gently, still holding his hand. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

"I know you are," she replied. Jordan took his hand from hers and gently reached it up to smooth her hair. She leaned into the touch, closing her eyes with a smile on her face.

"I see you went back to your natural color," he remarked with a small laugh. Angela laughed as well.

"Yeah," she said.

"I like it," Jordan said. "I always thought of you as more of a…natural girl anyway, if that makes any sense."

Angela looked at him with her head tilted to one side.

"You seem different," she said gently. "I don't know what it is, but you just seem changed, somehow."

"It's been five years. I've changed a lot," Jordan said with a laugh.

"Yeah, now you're actually able to string three sentences together," said an amused female voice from the doorway. Angela and Jordan both looked up to see Rayanne and Ricky standing in the doorway. Angela smiled up at them.

"Sorry, are we interrupting anything?" Ricky asked sarcastically. The two of them walked in, and Rayanne looked around, humming to herself. Ricky just stood next to Angela.

"So yeah, back to that statement," Rayanne said after a while. "Ricky and I have been listening for a little bit…"

"Rayanne!" Angela and Jordan exclaimed in unison. Rayanne shrugged and continued.

"What? Well anyway, you've changed a lot, Catalano. I'm proud of you. And, you know, just to test you out or whatever, if you ever wanted to date a certain one of my friends, I wouldn't have any objections."

"Thanks, Rayanne," Angela said, sounding mortified, though she was trying to hide it.

"Yeah, no problem," Rayanne replied with a large smile.

Jordan turned to Angela and shrugged.

"We may as well give it a try, right?" he asked with his eyebrows raised suggestively.

"What?" Angela asked. Jordan felt a stab of fear, but he decided that he was too far to go back.

"I mean, do you want to take a second go at our relationship," he said. Angela's eyes widened and she looked to Rayanne to help.

"Why you looking at me?" Rayanne asked innocently. "Hey, you got to do this one on your own."

Angela looked from Jordan to Rayanne to Ricky, and back to Jordan again. Then, she sighed and took Jordan's hand again, tilting her head to one side as she examined him.

"I don't see why we couldn't give it a try," she said slowly. Then, she shot a look at Rayanne. "As long as you don't go near Rayanne if either of you has had more than one drink."

The room erupted into laugher, but for Jordan it was more relieved than amused. He had really thought for a few moments that she was going to refuse, and he wondered what he would have done if that had been the case. He certainly wouldn't have been too happy.

"But what about your tour and all that?" Ricky asked suddenly. Jordan realized that he wasn't smiling. In fact, he looked quite angry.

"What do you mean?" Jordan asked, frowning thoughtfully. "The tour? Well, we haven't set dates yet…"

"Yeah," Ricky interrupted. "But when you do, you're just gonna leave Ange here, right? And then you're going to go off and sleep around with a bunch of groupies…"

Jordan was beginning to get a little confused. He felt like an asshole, even though he hadn't done anything. Ricky was making him feel like he had already slept around with a bunch of groupies; when he really hadn't…not yet.

"Look, Ricky," he said thoughtfully. "I mean, I'm just pulling this off the top of my head and everything…I mean, I'll have to check with the band and everything…but why don't the three of you come along if this whole second chance thing works out?"

Rayanne squealed excitedly. Angela just sat, holding Jordan's hand and smiling slightly. Jordan was glad to see that she hadn't changed too much. She was perfect as she was, in his eyes.

"We can?" Rayanne asked. "Oh my _gosh_, that would be _so _cool! We could be, like, groupies!"

Ricky still wasn't smiling. Jordan was beginning to feel a little uneasy on top of confused and slightly pissed off.

"I mean, I have to check and everything…" he said, trailing off under Ricky's death glare. Jordan had never really been a meek person, but Ricky certainly had a mean stare. Jordan turned his head to Angela. "What do you think, Angie?" he asked. Angela blushed a happy red at the nickname.

"That would be amazing," she said. Jordan smiled and squeezed her hand.

"I don't know about this, Ange," Ricky cautioned. "Think about last time."

Rayanne stopped her jumping around and stared at Ricky angrily. She hated when he brought up the whole thing back in high school. She felt so guilty, despite the fact that she had been drunk at the time, and Jordan and Angela hadn't even been going out anymore.

"Look, last time was my fault, all right!" she exclaimed angrily. It was the first time Angela had seen her really pissed off at anything since they moved to the city. "Ricky, don't bring it up again."

"No," Jordan said quietly. "Last time was _my _fault."

Everyone looked at him. Angela, who had already been blatantly staring at him, raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Well," Rayanne said, sounding shocked. "Add that to the list of ways in which Catalano has changed!"

Jordan laughed uneasily, but there was no humor there.

"Last time was my fault," he repeated. "Believe me. I tried to put blame on someone, at first, but it wasn't anyone's fault but my own. The letter…God, that was frickin stupid, right?"

Either everyone was too surprised that he had actually accepted the blame for something, or they had no clue what he was talking about, so he started to talk again, but Angela interrupted him.

"I already told you I forgive you," she said. Jordan sighed.

"I know," he said.

"Angela, just think about this with your head and not you heart…or your eyes," Ricky said vehemently. "What happens when the two of you break up? The three of us will be dumped out on the streets with no way to fend for ourselves!"

"No," Jordan said, shaking his head. "_If _we break up, I'll make sure you guys had some place to stay and some money, okay?"

Rayanne and Angela positively glowed with pride at the once-dim Jordan Catalano, but Ricky still wasn't impressed.

"Ange," he said. "You don't want to get your heart broken again, do you? And this time, it'll be real, because …you're older, you know."

Angela looked doubtful as she looked at Jordan

"Angela, don't do this," Rayanne said, but Jordan held up a hand.

"It's all right," he said softly. "I mean, I know what he's saying."

Another shocker, and another point for Jordan in the women's' books. Ricky rolled his eyes.

"Oh please…" he muttered, folding his arms across his chest and walking to the window.

"I mean," Jordan said louder, so he could talk over Ricky's angry mutters. "I was an ass to you, Angie. Back then. Back in high school. I understand if you don't want to give me a second chance. I mean, I wouldn't give me a second chance."

"Wait a minute," Rayanne interjected. "Whose side are you on again?"

Angela shot her a look and dropped Jordan's hand as if she had just realized that she was holding it, looking at him sadly.

"You don't want me to give you a second chance?" she asked. She sounded hurt. Jordan hastened to explain.

"No, that's not what I'm saying!" he began. "I don't know how to explain, really. I just don't want to hurt you again."

"If you love something, don't let it go," Rayanne pointed out desperately. "Catalano, you have no _idea _how much she needs this, even if it turns out that you're still an ass."

"I don't want to hurt her," Jordan said, still looking at Angela. "If I love something, I let it go if it'll make her happy."

Angela's uncertain expression melted, replaced by a glowing pride that Jordan felt oddly frightened by. He looked over at Ricky, who was still looking out the window. Maybe the man was right, after all. Maybe it was just some girlish idea of romance that made Angela feel for him. Maybe nothing that he had ever felt was real.

But then he looked at Angela, really looked at her, and knew that he loved her. How could it be anything but love? She wasn't the most beautiful girl in the universe, but she was still beautiful to him. She wasn't the smartest, but to him she was absolutely brilliant. She was everything to him and more. He loved her.

"And I do love you," he finished. "So, if it'll make you happy, then I'll let you go."

"It won't make me happy," Angela said almost immediately after he finished his statement. "It won't!"

Before he knew it, her lips were on his, and his cheek was cupped in her hand. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine that they were back in high school…but he didn't really want to. He'd rather be in a hospital bed with a myriad of injuries than back there, as long as Angela was with him.

* * *

And so, when Jordan recovered, and when the first concert came along, he watched Angela dancing in the front row, her eyes riveted to his, filled with love. She was all he needed. She was all the inspiration he would ever crave, and he knew it. He was in love, and that was all that mattered. That was all that would _ever _matter.

And on the fifth concert date, Jordan sang with a small velvet box in his pocket, and he sang all the better because he knew that after that night, he and Angela would have the rest of their lives together, and everything would be just perfect. Forever.

Neither of them had ever believed in fate. After that day, they did.

And it was all because of one Wednesday in December.

END


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